Trying to make sense of my World. I write about digital transformation, purpose and culture change for better business.

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Monthly Archives: June 2014

Last night I spoke at 300 Seconds Brighton – an event to empower more women in the digital community to do public speaking.

I haven’t done a lot of public speaking before so thought it would be a good opportunity to practice.

I had originally intended to talk about social media. However, as my talk evolved, it became much less about this and I realised that what I was actually talking about goes beyond digital marketing, although the thinking can still be applied to this.

So, I threw the rule book out and delivered this talk anyway.

I talked about a world where businesses reconnect with their true purpose and start delivering meaningful work, connect with its people and become more profitable as a result.

I’ve written the story I told below and embedded the slides here. Enjoy!

Genuine fake watches

I’m going to start with a story about three masons…

A man came across three masons who were working at chipping chunks of granite from large blocks. The first seemed unhappy at his job, chipping away and frequently looking at his watch. When the man asked what it was that he was doing, the first mason responded, rather curtly, “I’m hammering this stupid rock, and I can’t wait ’til 5 when I can go home.A second mason, seemingly more interested in his work, was hammering diligently and when asked what it was that he was doing, answered, “Well, I’m molding this block of rock so that it can be used with others to construct a wall. It’s not bad work, but I’ll sure be glad when it’s done. A third mason was hammering at his block diligently, taking time to stand back and admire his work. He chipped off small pieces until he was satisfied that it was the best he could do. When he was questioned about his work he stopped, gazed skyward and proudly proclaimed, “I… am building a cathedral!

The three men in the story all started out to achieve the same thing. They all had a sense of purpose. But that been forgotten about and they became disengage with their work.

But what if they all remembered what they had set out to do?

What if we could hold up a mirror and show them what the man saw as he came across each of them?

This story is about more than just masons. It’s about most employees, politicians, NGO’s, CEO’s of massive global conglomerates….

I’m talking about what could happen if businesses remembered that they weren’t just there to chip away at rocks and build walls, but that actually they’re there for a bigger purpose – to build magnificent cathedrals (to inspire people, to support communities and even, to save lives).

I’m talking about a world where businesses want to look at the bigger picture, reconnect with their true purpose and deliver meaningful work.

Simon Sinek (author of a book called ‘start with why’) makes a case for businesses to start with why and then align everything it does to this.

This is very unusual in the business world – usually businesses know what they do and how they do it, but not why.Those companies that start with why, and then go onto the how and what are really special.

Let’s take Apple as an example. Apple is just a computer company. Yet they have such a loyal following. Even when things go wrong, customers actually start defending them.

Simon Sinek says this is because, unlike other computer companies, they think, act and communicate starting with Why. What they do and how they do it just then prove what they believe. Apple’s Why, their higher purpose, is to challenge the status quo, to think differently. The way they do this is to make products that are beautifully designed and user friendly. They just happen to make computers. This belief attracts a following that also believes in challenging the status quo and doing things differently. Their following is because people are connected to what Apple believes first, and to what they do second.

Looking at the evidence, it’s hard not to argue that companies starting with why also have a huge competitive advantage, especially right now.

“Companies with an authentic purpose do 1025% better than the S&P 500”

This is a stat from a book, called ‘firms of endearment’, which outlines how world class companies profit from passion and purpose.

It builds on something that goes back to a fundamental need within us all – the need to feel a deeper meaning, a deeper connection to things.

This is where authenticity comes into it.

Authentic brands

Authenticity is when what you say and what you do is equal to what you believe. So being an authentic business means presenting who you really are through what you do. For companies with a real sense of purpose, this will be very easy. But for others, it’s a struggle.

Some companies like to copy what has worked for a company they admire – like copying Apple’s aesthetic when designing their products. Many companies will simply just tell customers what they want to hear – with the hope that people will trust them more if they say those things.

And that’s when problems occur.

A good example of a brand being unauthentic is from KFC. It’s an example which Simon Sinek would call ‘purpose-washing’:

“Buy a half a gallon of soda for $2.99 and a buck goes to juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation”

Obviously we all know KFC is bad for us and full of sugar, but here they are aligning themselves with Junior Diabetes Research Foundation. They’re not being authentic because what they’re doing here contradicts with their whole business model. This is just an act to reach out to customers and show that they care about this stuff – when it’s obvious they don’t.

But this isn’t unusual and whether it’s something this obvious or not, it happens all the time.

But wouldn’t it be awesome if these companies actually delivered on their purpose? And actually were truly authentic?

Wouldn’t it be awesome if businesses moved from doing things like the KFC example above, to doing things that actually serve people’s real needs and deliver on their own purpose.

Metrobank are a good example of this. They have based their entire business around outstanding customer service and their aim is to create fans not customers – and they’re certainly walking the walk – their entire services are based around the customers need and built for convenience.

A few interactions with a company will help reveal if they’re branding is simply saying what they think will appeal to us, rather than what they actually think.

Building cathedrals

And this is why I believe most businesses today need to take a step back from breaking the rocks in front of them and start remembering that they are actually building cathedrals. Because they need to reconnect to their purpose, their ‘why’, and start aligning their behaviours to it.

Yet, this is normally forgotten about. It’s not unusual for people to believe that the person who comes into work is different to the person at home. The idea that the ‘work you’ does not have emotions, or at least definitely shouldn’t express them.

But we’re beginning to realise that there’s something fundamentally wrong with this. We’re beginning to recognise that by allowing people to be themselves, by encouraging people to bring their whole selves to work, they will be happier and more productive. It’s all a bit too obvious though, isn’t it?

Why can’t we bring all of the things we’ve got, to work? What does it mean for those businesses if all they’ve got access to is our hands? But not really to our brains and our best ideas and not really to our hearts where our passion is?

So, the next step is to change the systems and processes which we have built with this false perception at the heart. And it has to start with the individual. That’s where effective change always starts.

It’s worth mentioning that this blog post has been spurred on because I’ve just returned from a 3 month sabbatical, backpacking around South East Asia. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do. But instead of leaving NixonMcInnes, I found a way that met both our needs. I found a way to do something I really wanted to do and I feel even more engaged and happy working for NM.

Whilst I was away, I was thinking about I want out of life. I’ve always been very ambitious, but at that moment I found something that I realised was even more important to me – Fun, happiness.

A very happy moment for me during my travels – feeling the fear and doing it anyway

I’ve always had a lot of fun doing what I do and I’m lucky to be at a company who invests so much into the happiness of the team. But, I think I personally had got bogged down and forgotten how important it is to have fun and be happy at work.

So, before returning to work, I made a promise to myself – to have more fun at work. I know from personal experience that I am better at my job when I’m happy. It makes me less stressed and bucket loads more productive.

I shared my promise with my team and they invited me to help them stick to this as well. So, I took this happiness at work survey and created a happiness action plan.

Here are the 5 things I’ve found to be most successful so far:

Writing down in my notepad everyday “How can I make today great?” and then writing down three ways I can achieve it

Taking advantage of flexible working and working wherever suits my mood e.g. from my garden when the sun is shining

Spending more time with colleagues e.g. inviting people to lunch or just simply by making more of an effort to ask people how they’re doing

Working at a slower pace and building in more breaks for thinking and creativity

Sitting in different places around the office and swapping desks. This is surprisingly effective!